Explosive



- onated when tested under the 2,929,698 f EXPLOSIVE Ludwig F. Audriethand George C. Hale, Dover, NJ.

No Drawing. Application August 15, 1944 Serial No. 549,599

7 1 Claim. 01. 52-5 (Granted under Title'35, us. Code 1952 sec. 266) Theinvention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for theGovernment for governmental purposes without the payment to us of anyroyalty thereon.

The present invention relates to a new explosive composition. Moreparticularly the invention is based upon the discovery that certainsalts of diaminoguanidine are explosives having highly favorableproperties which make them of value for military or other uses. Suchexplosive compounds are represented by the type formula:

where HX represents any one of a series of inorganic or organic acidswhich will impart explosive properties to diaminoguanidine when combinedwith it.

While it is recognized that the acid derivatives of guanidine have beenconsidered previously for use in explosives mixtures, we have found thatthey do not possess the favorable properties of the diaminoguanidinesalts and, in fact, have not been used as military or industrialexplosives so far as is known, due largely to the extreme insensivity tothe compounds. We have discovered that the sensitivity of thediaminoguanadine salts is such that they can be readily brought tocomplete high order detonation by a priming charge of mercury fulminate,Whereas the corresponding salts of guanidine cannot be so detsameconditions. Evidently, the replacement of two amino groups in guanidineby hydrazine groups to produce diaminoguanidine (see structural formulasI and II) has a marked elfect in increasing the sensitivity of thesalts, i.e., the ease in which the salts can be made to explode.

This is considered an important discovery as no reference to such anefiect has yet been encountered in the field of explosives. It is ofdefinite interest that these new, more explosive salts ofdiaminoguanidine can be used alone as high explosives.

In addition to the favorable sensitivity to detonation of thediaminoguanidine salts, they have been found to be highly stable and tohave power or brisance comparable to trinitrotoluene and to otherexplosives which have found extensive use as military explosives. H

The more important and significant explosive characteristics ofrepresentative inorganic and organicsalts of diaminoguanidine, asdetermined standard methodaare summarized iolloyyi i'e table? ADmmmoguanzdme Nitrate Plcrate Melting Point. 0 142-4 188-90 Sensitivityto irnpact, Bureau of Mines App. using a 2 kg. wt;., cm 40 80 Sand Testvalue. g. sand when initiated with 0.3 g.

mercuric fulminate 27. 8 40. 6 Stability, cc. gas evolved by a 5 g.sample in the 120 Vacuum Stability Test 1.92 0.48 Explosion Temperature,0 290 250 While we cite here only the nitrate and picrate ofdiaminoguanidine, we do not wish to be limited to these two salts, forwe have found that such acids as perchloric, chloric, hydrazoic,styphnic, dinitrophenol, and dinitroresorcinol will combine with thebase to give explosive products.

' To emphasize the favorable properties of these compounds asexplosives, the following comparisons are made.

The impactsensitivity of tetryl and of pentaerythritol tetranitrate isgiven by the values 17 cm. and 26 cm. respectively, indicating that boththe nitrate and picrate of diaminoguanidine are appreciably lesssensitive to impact and therefore much safer to handle than these widelyused high explosives. The sand test values, generally recognized bythose skilled in the art as a measure of the brisance or shatteringeffect of an explosive, place these compounds in the same class withtrinitrotoluene and the amatols.

Since the sand test values for the nitrate and picrate ofdiamino-guanidine areobtained through initiation by'0.3 g. of mercuricfulminate, it is furthermore indicated that these explosives can easilybe made to detonate at high order and at a high rate. Particularlyfavorable and of utmost importance in determining the feasibility ofusing for military and commercial purposes such explosives is thestability of diaminoguanidine compounds. In fact the data indicates thatthe compounds cited above as examples are remarkably stable in thatheating for 48 hours, in a vacuum at 120 C. causes only negligibledecomposition as evidenced by the small quantity of gas evolved in the.test. By comparison, these compounds possess stability approaching thatof trinitrotoluene and are more stable than tetryl and pentaerythritoltetranitrate, all of which are important military high explosives.

The diaminoguanidine compounds can be shown by calculation to yieldrelatively low temperature on explosion, and would therefore offeradvantage over many other high explosives where a cool explosive isdesired. Diaminoguanidine compounds, in particular the nitrate, can alsobe used as components of mixed explosives. We have found (a) that anexplosive consisting of a 50/50 mixture of diaminoguanidine nitrate plustrinitrotoluene possesses greater power and brisance than the widelyused composite of ammonium nitrate and trinitrotoluene;

and (b) that such a mixture in the molten state can be cast loaded intoshell, bombs, mines, and other devices used for blasting and demolitionpurposes to yield an excellent high explosive of high power and superiorphenol and dinitroresorcinol, and a detonating agent for detonating saidsalt.

(References on following page) 4 OTHER REFERENCES Davis: Chemistry ofPowder and Explosives, 11, pages 280-81 (1943).

References Cited iii the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,312,464 Woodbury Aug. 5, 1919 1,758,169 Olsen. May 13, 1930 5Beilstem: Handbuch der Orgamsche Chemie, vol.

7 VI (4th ed.), page 279.

FOREIGN PATENTS Beilstein: Handbuch der Organische Chemie, vol.

12,617 Great Britain 1901 III (1st sup. to the 4th edition), page 57.

